After coming from an annual regional conference in Las Vegas, delegates from Manila of the Knights of Rizal went to San Francisco where they paid courtesy calls to the Philippine Consulate and the Office of the Daly City Mayor.

The delegates, led by Court of Appeals Assocate Justice Elihu Ybañez who is also the Supreme Commander of the Knights of Rizal, also conferred knighthood to California State Senator Scott Weiner and also visited Mayor Juslyn Manalo of Daly City after going to the Philippine Consulate where they were met by Consulate officials led by Deputy Consul General Raquel Solano, former Ambassador. Romeo Arguelles, and Consuls Jed Liona and Carlyn Monastrial

In an interview, San Beda College of Law alumnus Ybañez, who has been with the Court of Appeals for eleven years now, mentioned that the purpose of the convention is to promote camaraderie among members and also Philippine national hero Jose Rizal’s teachings that included patriotism, civic-mindedness, love of country and friendship among nations.

“In the convention, we confer awards to all deserving members and knighthood to new members. In Las Vegas, we have created a new chapter where several new members from San Diego California went there to be conferred knighthood. So we now have a San Diego chapter. We have 32 chapter in the United States with 4, 500 members worldwide and around 200 came for the three-day convention. Among our members are doctors, lawyers, ambassadors, consuls, among others,” Ybañez explained.

He also reminded that Rizal’s teachings and advocacy in exposing the abuses rallied the Filipinos all over the country and because of that we gained our independence. He worked for and gained respect for us to be treated equally by peoples from other nation so he deserves to be recognized because of his love for our country.

The associate justice also intimated that they went to San Francisco after Las Vegas particularly to the Palace Hotel where Rizal visited in May 1888 and a Rizal marker can still be found.

“Rizal is every much relevant up to now because his teachings and novels gave us the Filipino people an awakening, to be united, to become a nation deserving of respect by other nations. So the young should be proud that they are Filipinos and we have Dr. Jose Rizal as our national hero worth of emulation,” stressed Ybañez.W

After San Francisco, the Knights of Rizal delegation went to and attended the regional chapter Commander’s Ball in Houston Texas where we had Rizal excellence awardees for medicine, civic actions, engineering, and other Filipino Americans who excelled in their professions.